Downtown high-rise fire caused by baseboard heater

Initial reports from the Seattle Fire Department that residents of a Belltown apartment building were smashing out windows to get fresh air during a stove fire have been clarified by a later report from the agency to say that no one broke out their windows at all.

Not only was there an absence of desperate residents breaking their windows, but the fire was late determined to be caused by a baseboard heater, not food on the stove.

The Seattle Fire Department responded to a small fire in a third floor apartment at the Bell Tower on First Street about 10:24 a.m. and quickly extinguished the fire, according to reports.

Because of heavy smoke in the apartment and hallway, the residents living in the fourth floor and below in the 16-story building were evacuated as a precaution.

Crews used the building’s PA system to advise residents in the remaining units to stay in their homes.

Witnesses calling 911 originally reported residents were smashing windows to get air, but the broken glass came from the unit that was on fire due to the heat and flames breaking out the glass, according to the Seattle Fire Department.

The fire was caused by flammable materials stored against a baseboard heater, investigators say.

The 63-year-old occupant of the apartment was taken to Harborview Medical Center in satisfactory condition as a precaution.